Life in SEA is not all about magic. There are beautiful landscapes with precious flora and fauna too. Please enter if you love magic and the nature. If you are particularly looking for magic alone, look elsewhere please for you shall be disappointed. All materials are for entertainment purposes only.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Many people are facing problems in life and come to me, they hoped for an immediate solution to their problems. So, instead of responding to individual mails; below is just some of my personal experiences:1. Stay away from magicIt is your freedom to what you want to do, but if you want a more down-to-the earth life; please just stay away from magical related items. There is nothing wrong with magic. The only problem is that magic does not work or give any tangible effects. Not only you waste your time and energy, you might have missed the most important chance in your life 'waiting' for magic to take effect. Then, when you are done with magic, you are left with a whole loads of useless magical items.2. Believe in religion but not too engross in itLike magic, religion is just for consoling our mind. Involving too young in religious matters may not be too good for a person's social and financial development. When too many young people involved in religious matters, the society became non-productive. No, I am not against religion but just to point out the fact of life.3. Go out to meet people but keep your distanceMeeting people makes us learn a lot of things from others. But, please keep a distance and use your intelligence. Not all are good folks. It is better to be deceived early and realize your mistake than later.4. Have a hobbyIf you have nothing good to do, learn a hobby. This includes even planting a pot of flower or keeping a small aquarium. Keep your hobby in a manageable size and you will enjoy it. A lady once complaint to me that she had kept too many flowers and now had to source a new place and invest a lot of money. Well, this is not 'enjoying' a hobby.5. Do somethingEven if you are jobless, try to do some work. Charity work is good and helping others not only increase your social life but to improve your luck.6. Watch your moneyThere is a saying that goes: "Money is not everything." but I further added that 'No money and you are nothing." So, it is only when you have got your money matters under control, you don't have a life.7. Exercise morePlease keep your body healthy. Once your body is healthy, not only your mind is healthy; your money matters are healthy too.8. Don't plan your retirement too earlyOnce you start thinking of retirement, you become lazy and life become boring. So, keep working and enjoy working!The above is my ways of enjoying life and keep my soul alive. I don't want to nag more than that. So, Please take care of your soul!

Friday, July 21, 2017

Magic SEA materials are currently under construction. You are not likely to be affected if you are only browsing the ghost stories and some other materials. Some ritual specific materials may be removed.Why is this change?Magic SEA is visited by folks of all ages and interests. Some materials such as love magic and the like may be offensive to ladies or more religious folks. So, those contents would need to be moved to another blogs with details added.There are over 1700 postings and most postings are unread. Those postings with less hit rates will be removed. I am hoping to keep the main posting to around 1000 or below.Do I need to make a copy of the rituals?No need. But you may do so as you wish. The posted rituals are mostly incomplete. The original intention is just to publish as many rituals as possible. Would materials continue to be posted?Yes. Only ghost stories and non-ritual specific ones.For the rest of the folks, business is usual.Happy visiting!Liew

I have told you about the story of the basketball and the lift, now let me tell you a story of my family ghost:When I was about 10 years old, my parents moved to Talang Garden opposite the Taiping Road. It was a 3 room terrace house with a skylight in the middle of the house.My room was the center room. At night when the light is turned off, I could see the figure of a man sat in the sofa in the living room before dawn and the figure only appear there for a while.I couldn't see it clearly as it was really a black shadow with its head stooped. The black figure always sit at the end of the sofa. Interestingly speaking, the way this figure disappear was not as fast as lighting strike. Instead, it just faded in accordance to the brightening of the environment.I have tried to watch TV in the sofa and nothing happens. But when I switched off the TV and when I turned my back, the black figure already sat in the sofa. Worst of all, my pillow was still in the sofa. That was the time I need to come so close with that figure. That was really an unforgettable moment of my life!By hook or by crook that I had to pretend everything was okay but braved myself to approach the sofa while pretended to say: "Oh, I forgot my pillow" or "I have forgotten my school bag!"My grandma used to advise me when I see a 'dirty thing' (ghost), I should pretend not to have seen it or else... For once the 'thing' knows that you can see it, then it will possess your body and there will be no end.Having said so, I am not sure if my parents saw the black shadow too, but since it didn't really disturb us; no one really cares anyway until...Once I was really scared by this 'invisible family member'.I was lying in my bed and before I fell into slumber, I was awaken by some Cantonese song. The song was unlike those of the contemporary Cantonese song or those of the Classic Opera. It sounded somehow more or less like those lengthy old operas with questioning and answering mixing with gongs.I immediately opened my eyes, the commotion vanished.When I opened my eyes again, the commotions was as if just next to my ears.I opened my eyes and the commotion vanished. And I closed my eyes, the sounds repeated.So, silent-voices-silent-voices...I started to recite some prayers: "Please let me alone..."After a while I peeped at the sofa and nothing was seen. But as soon as turned my body to another side, big problem! There was a pair of legs under the chair near my study table. It was just the lower body of a figure with a pair of bare soles. Then I felt my body was frozen solid and I couldn't move except that I could still moving my eye balls.The sounds of opera play became louder and louder...Frankly speaking, that was my 'first time' experiencing 'hag ride'. I was lying on my side and I could see that a black figure wearing white shorts climbing into the bed.There was nothing I could do and I gradually fell into sleep and when I could move again, it was already dawn.Since the hag rode incident, I continued to see the black figure in that sofa. But as I became older, I saw it lesser and by the time my parents moved to Taiping, I have not seen it again until the house was sold.Perhaps the black figure is still in that house, that I cannot tell.

I used to have a great compassionate friend, the late Mary who was an ardent Buddhist when alive.Mary was so compassionate that she would step on the emergency brake of her car just to make way for a cat to pass in front of her. Stopping a car to give way to a small animal is not a bad thing to do in a 'safe' environment but it could be a VERY bad thing in a inter-state highway with speeding traffic. Of course, in case of an elephant or a cow crosses in front of your car, you should still stop it at all costs...One day, news of Mary involved in a car accident while she was returning home from Kuala Lumpur came to me through Brother Woo. So we visited her after she was recuperating in her house.After some casual talk with Mary, I asked about her accident and she said: "I was driving back after attending a religious activity and just as when I was approaching the Ipoh, a small animal ran across the road in front of my car.I had to stop the car so as not to ram over it as I am forbade to kill... But as soon as I slammed onto the brake, a car behind me rammed into my car causing both cars to stick together and skidded into a drainage beside the highway.O Mi To Fo (Homage to Buddha), Although I was hurt quite badly, I felt good as the small animal was not hurt... Perhaps I owed the small animal some bad karma and I had to repay the debt?"As soon as I listened to what Mary had to say, I replied: "Maybe you need to be a little more careful next time or you may not be so lucky. You may lost your life! Now that you are fined with $300 for reckless driving and that you must fork out extra money to purchase a new car... or probably lost your job. How would you manage to get those money?"Mary looked at me in blank, and asked: "Can you Bro Liew and Bro Woo lend me some money? The Buddha will certainly watch over you over your good deeds?"I stood up and shrugged: "Beats me! I am broke myself. Perhaps after your bad karma is gone, your good karma will come? Maybe you can pray to the Lord Buddha to help. As a friend, I can donate a few hundreds..."Bro Woo too stood up and said: "You know, this is the time of the year again. Everything needs money, the New Year is coming too... Didn't you have a statue of God of Fortune (财神), maybe he can help..."We passed Mary a few hundreds of dollars and quickly excused ourselves.I heard that Mary eventually raised enough fund to helped her to ride through her troubles from other great compassionate friends.Then a few years later, I heard that Mary was killed in another freak accident. This time, a lorry rammed into her car and smashed her car into rubble taking her life. The lorry driver claimed Mary's car suddenly came to a halt and he failed to notice the car and ran over it...Maybe Mary intended to save some life again. Hopefully her good deeds will enable Mary to RIP in Pure Land... Wherever the Buddha and Pure Land might be...Compassionate in an improper way can harm the life of others too! Just think about it.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

The original teaching of the Great Perfection (大圆满) emphasizes on 'self-liberation' of our entangled mind. Contrary to the common thinking, Great Perfection does not advocate the belief of Pure Land or Hell. Instead, we must understand the duality nature of our own mind:Good vs bad, heaven vs earth, inside vs outside, right vs wrong...It is because the two faces of our mind that make us suffer. People who suffered from mental depression is also due to their entangled mind between two sides: happy vs sad or right vs wrong.The core meditation technique taught by Great Perfection masters is to 'see but don't judge'. Once a judgement is made, then a person tends to stand on sides and this is the beginning of 'samsara' (sorrow).So, understand the core concept of Great Perfection, we also understand that the law of karma does not apply to a Great Perfection teaching as 'good and bad' are only relatively speaking.A good thing to a person may be an unforgivable act to another. So, how can we judge and say which is good or bad? Which side would receive bad karma then?Hence, the teaching of Great Perfection is thought as a dissident of Tibetan Buddhism and this teaching naturally invites controversy.Staying on this context, there are many games in the West that could make players crazy. For example: The Three Kings, The Closet Game, One Man Hide And Seek, Dry Bones, Bloody Mary etc. Of course believers say that the Devil was at work. But a Great Perfection practitioner would point out that it is not the Devil but the games made the player's mind to be in a constant state of 'yes or no' self-talk state. So long as the person failed to snap out of this yes-no between stage, he/she would become paranoid or crazy.The Great Perfection's remedy for this case is just to stop thinking and 'see' so as to get the 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' feel. Once a person can grasp hold of a secure feeling, then he/she will come back to his/her senses that there is nothing to bother him/her. In Great Perfection, when a person walks out of his/her state of fear, he/she is said to be 'self-liberated'.Of course, not all players who played the above spirit conjuration games would face with problems. If you still remember the 'doer' and the 'thinker' that I have brought up in earlier postings, then you would have guessed that only a 'thinker' will get into trouble but not a 'doer'.This is because a 'thinker' would engage in an endless state of ding-dong as to if the ghost would come or not. After a few hours of 'yes-no' self-talk, a thinker will go crazy. On the other hand, a 'doer' just do and less thinking. So a doer will feel the game is stupid.In short, there is nothing so 'great' about 'Great Perfection'. To sum up: Great Perfection says that our mind is constantly switching state: happy-calm-sad. The '-' represents the intermediate states. If we are aware that the 'happy-me', 'calm-me' and 'sad-me' are all myself; then we have master the gist of Great Perfection.So said, if you still thinking of becoming a 'Buddha', then a Great Perfection master would wallop you with a baton!

It is from Ben again. According to Ben, he has a very weird habit in taking lift. Whenever Ben enters a lift compartment, he would only enter it either on the left or right side avoiding the center. This is because a strange experience using lift when he was small.Once Ben returned from school and he came to the lift lobby of his flat waiting for the lift. When the lift arrived, the lift door opened and it was empty, so Ben walked into the compartment.As soon as Ben stepped in, he felt that he suddenly bumped into something and fell back. At first Ben thought that he might have overlooked someone but after some searching, there was no one around...At this time, the lift door closed. So, Ben stood up and pressed the door open button and the lift opened again. After some hesitation, Ben walked into the lift and this time, he was successful in getting to the 11th floor where he leaved.When the lift arrived at the 11th floor and the lift door opened. Ben was hesitate to go out in fear of 'someone' would rush in. But he ventured out anyway and this time, nothing happened.Since that incident, Ben would rather go into a lift 'side way' to avoid bumping into some invisible creature.Luckily, that was the only 'direct hit' (撞到正).Perhaps Ben had bumped into some passenger from another world...By now, you must have heard that a lift may be used to go to another world. If you are of those adventurous, then you may try the below simple ritual said to be originated from Korean urban legend. This is how:According to the legend, a person only needs to press a certain floor combination on the level buttons and the lift will bring the person to another world.If you wish to try, then please find a building which is at least 10 stories tall. Also you must make sure that you are alone in the lift compartment, then just press the level buttons following this order: 4-2-6-2-4-10-5.When the lift moves to the 5th floor, a lady will enter the lift but whatever you do, please don't look at the person or talk to her.After the lady came in, you must press the 1st floor button but the lift would bring you to the 10th floor instead. When the lift door opens, please exit the lift and you should be entering another world.If the lady asks you where you are about, please don't answer her. However, if you want to return to the present world, just go into the same lift and press the above combination.I am not sure if the above technique will bring you anywhere as the lift might break down due to improper handling... or you might be sued fro improper use of private property!

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

This is a story told by Ben:I remembered that when I was around 7 or 8 years old, I picked up a basketball while on my way back from the school. It was quite a common basketball just like those ones sold in supermarkets.Although the basketball has nothing special, I started to enjoy playing with the ball very soon. Since I was staying in a village house with my mother then and I was the only child, I have got used to play alone.My basketball game is fairly simple: the basketball was being thrown about either from one corner in the house to another, or the ball was being thrown from outside of the house into my mother's bedroom through the skylight imagining that I was shooting basket in a basketball court. Then I would run into the living room and into my mother's bedroom to get the ball. And again this basketball would be thrown through the skylight to outside.This repetitive games would look dull to a modern kid but it was quite an enjoyment to a poor kid like me at that time. Very strangely too that I could play with this basketball for entire day and never get bored.So inward and outward bound I went for countless of times until I was sweaty all over. Then finally, after running for a lost count of times; when I rushed into my mother's bedroom to get the basketball, I saw a kid about my age was standing by the bed holding the basketball.I knew this kid, he is Sam who stayed just opposite the street. But the question was that why this kid was in my house?Before I could open my mouth, Sam looked at me and said: "Why do you steal my basketball?"Feeling annoyed with such an accusation, I yelled at Sam: "I found the basketball by the roadside. If it is yours, then take it back!"After yelling out the words, I felt indignant and went to get my mom who was cooking in the kitchen. After telling my mom about the basketball, she accompanied me to the bedroom but Sam was no where to be found though the basketball lied still on the floor.After the dinner, my mom brought me to Sam's house with the basketball in the hope to return the basketball to Sam.At Sam's place, Sam's mother came and greeted us. She looked as if she had been crying. After my mom told the lady about the basketball, Sam's mother looked astonished and after stood dumbfounded for a while, she finally said: "Sam was knocked down by a car while crossing the road in front of the school! He went to school early with his beloved basketball in the hope to play basketball!"There was nothing both of us could have done but to leave Sam's basketball to his mother...

This is yet another game that opens the door to the Hell.It is said that the game player would be punished by God as the game player must summon the 'Midnight Man'. Your are warned of the potential danger of this game as many players had suffered mental depressions after playing this game.First, you must choose a place, any place but not your own house please! A known haunted house would be ideal.Then prepare some black candle, fire matches, salt, a piece of paper and pen.When you are ready, go to the house and choose a door to start the game. After a door is chosen, then make a protective circle with salt. And write your name on the paper and smear a drop of your own blood on the paper. Following that, shut down all lighting and light the black candle right on midnight.Now, you must start burning the paper with your name and blood on it. As soon as the paper is burnt, then please do knock the door 22 times and after the final knock, open the door and extinguish the candle flame. Following that, shut the door and light the candle again.Now you have summoned the 'Midnight Man'. What you must do now is just to sit in the dark quietly until after 4 a.m. If you can last until that time, then you have won the game or the consequence is very bad.You may feel a sudden temperature drop, someone whispers near your ear, candle flame flickers or even extinguished. All of those signs simply meant that the Midnight Man is around you.On the event that the candle flame went dead or completely burnt down, a new candle must be lit or the Midnight Man will catch hold of you and drag you into the other side of the door.If you survived, then you may make a request to the Midnight Man. He may negotiate a term with you. As to what term the Midnight Man wanted, no one has come back from the game with a sober mind to tell his side of the story.So, for your own safety, don't even think of playing it!

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

My foreign friend told me that he likes to eat 'hot dog'. So I told him that over here, people eat real 'hot dog'... Dogs are really men's best friend. Not only they can guard over our house, be our companions, and that they are sort of 'yummy' too... Ha! Ha! Ha!Not only dogs can keep our stomach warm during cold days, they too can bring us money in 'dog fight'. Dog fight is just one of those traditional gambling like cock fight, horse race and the like.In old days, while I was still staying in rubber plantation in Kuala Kangsar, dog fight was one of the most important occasion of folks living there. Many folks kept many dogs then for the purpose of participating in big and small dog fight tournaments. To many people, dog fights are purely entertainment while others saw dog fight as a means of gambling. Since most of people 'like' dogs, those dogs killed during dog fights would be cooked and feast on hence saving the effort of killing them alive.The norm was that 3 days before the dog fight, dogs are tied and they are starved. The beginning of fight is the 'random kill' where a big group of dogs are placed inside an enclosed court and a piece of meat would be thrown into the court. These starved dogs will be fighting for the meat and bitten each other to dead. Only two final survivors will enter the final.Naturally speaking, those ones that survived to the final would be among the fiercest ones. So, the final match is a must watch event for the folks in the plantation.During one of those years, Chiew's dog and Lee's dog went into final. Both of the dogs were extremely fierce and when I looked at their eyes, they were filled with hatred and waiting to make the killing.On the day of the final, the sky was gloomy. The final match started by a piece of bone being thrown into the center of the court. Both dogs rushed at each other to start a life and death fight. Yellow dirt was seen stirred up forming dust mist accompanied with the gnarling, grimacing and entangling of both dogs. Thick dust started to rise into the air accompanied with bloody smell. Just as when the spectators were watching the match attentively, suddenly the only child of Chiew came from no where and rushed into the middle of the court.Before anyone could take anyone action, the poor child has his left hand severed by Lee's dog. At the same time too, the match has ended with both of the dogs killed presumably due to serious wounds inflicted during the fight.The poor child was rushed to the local hospital and his life was saved though not his left hand.I met Chiew's son years later when I revisited the rubber plantation. Due to curiosity, I asked him what happened to him on that unfortunate day. And he said: "I was waiting for my dad outside of the court and suddenly there came a very fierce black hound with bloody red eyes. I am sure that it was one of my dad's prized hound died the year before. We cooked the dog after that.The black hound chased after me and I started to run but somehow rammed into the match court and lost a hand.However, my cousins said that they didn't see any hounds but only me running frantically all of a sudden as if someone mad..."Perhaps it was the spirit of indignant dog who returned to seek its revenge? There is no where to tell now. Whatever the case that may be, very few people would eat dogs now a days partly in fear of mad dog disease.

This is a real story happened in the mountain of Nantou (南投), Taiwan a few years back. The hero of this story is Ming, my Taiwanese friend.

Ah Pek is Ming's distance uncle who lived in Puli, Nantou County. This Ah Pek has a special ability, i.e. he can see ghosts! Because Ah Pek needs to frequently go to his orchard at the other side of the mountain to watch over his fruits until very late, he always come across ghosts. But the most horrific of all is not ghosts, but the Mosina Goblinoid.

This Mo-sin-a is said to be specific to Taiwan mountainous regions. It is some sort of demonic entity which is similar to the Japanese Kamikakushi. According to Ah Pek,if there are many Mosina in a mountain, even the powerful mountain gods would shy away from them. Ghosts would not harm people and they can be handled by chanting Buddhist mantras, but Mosina will kill and the mantras are less effective to a Mosina so said.

Mosina are believed to live in groups and they are inferior demons active in dense jungle. They will call out your name at your back and if you answered, then you will be hypnotized and follow them to their realm.

If you hear heavy footsteps with a sense of high atmospheric pressure when walking alone in a jungle, then most likely that some Mosina maybe present. Ah Pek said that many mishaps faced by mountain hikers are the work of Mosina.

One day, Ah Pek visited Ming and gave him a 'fu' (talisman) and told Ming that he might have some problems in near future as his face aura wasn't looking too good.

Ming wasn't too worry about Ah Pek's remarks as his uncle was known to make joke of Ming. No one really knows when this Ah Pek gets serious and when not.

One week later, my senior from a mountain hikers' photographic society invited me to hike up the Nanhu Mountain. Ming was a little hesitate because the Nanhu Mountain is one of the difficult mountain to tackle and that the weather changes quickly too. Many hikers lost their ways and lives, and coupled with some spooky tales; Ming started to feel regret in joining this money wasting and tedious society.

Soon it was time. Ming together with other 6 people and a local guide assembled at the Nanhu Mountain foot on a Saturday morning. They planned to camp on the mountain over night so that they could photograph scenic sun rise.

No one could foresee that such a beautiful mountain photograph project became Ming's most unforgettable nightmare!

As recalled by Ming, three days before the departure, he had a very strange dream. In the dream he was being chased after by a group of dwarfs. Just as when the dwarfs were about to apprehend him, Ming awoke in a pool of cold sweat. Perhaps that was a very bad omen?

The Nanhu Mountain proved to be a very challenging mountain to hike because of its dangerous landscape and hanging cliffs that could be fatal if one is not careful.

So said, the group arrived on the mountain peak later than expected. They were faced with many problems, it was either the weather turned from bad to worst, or that the walkie-talkie could not function. At the same time, three of the group members started to feel sick.

It was quite late when the team finally put up canvas tents. Since everyone was very tired, all of the folks fell into slumber very quickly too.

In the middle of the night, Ming was awoke by a series of heavy footstep noises outside the tent. He looked outside and saw five dwarfs about 1m in height.

Before Ming ventured outside to take a closer look, his friend, Jason who was sleeping beside him suddenly went berserk and shouted 'NO!' and then rushed out of the tent into a piece of forest nearby.

Without hesitation, Ming followed close behind Jason. After 10 minutes or so, Jason suddenly collapsed beside a waterfall. Quickly, Ming approached Jason and tried to sprinkle some water on Jason's face so as to revive him.

After some effort, Jason finally came to his senses. But as soon as Jason opened his eyes, he pointed at Ming's back and shouted: "MO-SIN-A!"

Ming turned his back and saw that a group of dwarfs staring at him. Almost immediately, Ming felt dizzy and fainted onto the ground.

When Ming awoke, it was 4 days later in a local hospital.

Later, other team members told Ming that he was found by a search and rescue team after missing for 3 days. The rescue team found Ming was covered with mud and weeds. Had it not because of one rescue members saw a flash of light came from the ground, Ming may still be out there. While Jason is still missing until today.

At this point, Ming remembered Ah Pek's talisman that he worn around his neck and he was told that by the time Ming was hospitalized, no talisman was found on his body.

Perhaps it was indeed his Ah Pek's talisman has helped Ming. But every time Ming brought this issue up with Ah Pek, the old man only smiled and said: "Nonsense! Ah Pek knows no magic!"

This is a story of how Beng's relatives fell into the prey of an evil sorcerer. Beng said that he still feels trauma thinking of it now a days.When Beng was in Form 6, his uncle and aunty liked to chase after those weird supernatural things. The couple would not miss to worship any shrines or so-called holy spots.In short, anywhere that are believed to be able to bring luck, they will be there. At times, Beng's family also being persuaded to participate in those luck empowerment rituals or spirit offering sessions.Once, Beng's uncle told his mother that he got acquainted with a very powerful Indian magician who can read any person like a book by just looking at his/her date of birth.Consequently, Beng's second aunty followed his uncle to visit the sorcerer and she received a windfall not long after that. Then this aunty and her family became ardent followers of this sorcerer.Than Beng's mother and his godmother too followed the wake of his aunty and uncle. As expected, the sorcerer read Beng's mother and godmother's minds; and that the sorcerer promised to help but the old ladies must visit the sorcerer twice a week.Beng advised his mother not to be too engrossed with superstitions but the old lady would not listen. Hence Beng decided to follow his mother and godmother to visit the Indian sorcerer.On stepping into the sorcerer's house, the sorcerer opened his mouth and said" "How coincidence! Your date of birth is same as mine!"So, the consultation begun. The sorcerer told Beng many of his private matters that no one was supposed to know. At the end of the session, the sorcerer told Beng that he would help if Beng could come often.At first all were well until...Strange things started to happen to Beng's godmother. Accoding to his godmother, she felt 'something' passes through her body and then her body would develop goose bumps and frozen solid.Then it was Beng's second aunty family's turn to face the music...Beng's second aunty would see a female ghost watching at her when she were sleeping. Until so much so that the ghost appeared in her dreams.One night, the second aunty's son returned home after a midnight movie, he claimed to have seen a shadowless person stood under a street lighting looking at their house.In addition, the aunty's dogs would hide under her armchair and whine pitifully as if threatened by something. Then the aunty's daughter started to experience hag ride at night too...One day, Beng's grandpa who was a spirit medium visited the second aunty's house. The old man immediately pointed out that the house was full with with ghosts and the culprit was the sorcerer.Without any hesitation, this old spirit medium immediately fell into trance and his patron god, 'Guangong' possessed the old man and 'Guangong' started to dance around the house and then he stopped in front of a statue and asked the aunty's son to lift up the statue and inspect its base.To everyone's surprise, there was trace of tempering at the base of the statue. So under the Guangong's instruction, the statue base was dug out and a piece of bone was retrieved.According to Beng's aunty, the statue was purchased from the sorcerer to bring 'luck'. Then the Guangong instructed Beng's second aunty to throw everything into a nearby river so that all the bad luck and evil spirits would leave.After cleansing second aunty's house, the grandpa proceeded to purify the rest of the households so that those ghosts cannot do any more harm.Since the frightful experience, Beng's family and relatives would not trust those sorcerers any more.

Monday, July 17, 2017

This is an old story when I was working in a MNC company in Kuala Lumpur.That was in the dead of the night, around 4am perhaps. After I have just completed my work and on my way home. I stayed in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya.Then I was passing the road in front of SONY factory (the factory is said to be moved). While driving I listened to some rock music in order to keep me awake. My speed was a little fast then as the road was practically clear and so that I could reach home faster too.Just as when I was approaching a corner near a newly built town house, suddenly I saw a silhouette in the middle of the road at a distance of about three street lamp posts distance from me.Instinctively I slowed down my car and put on spot lights so that I could have a clearer look at that figure. As my car approached the figure, I could tell that it was the figure of an old Indian grandma.Figured out that the head lights might disturb the Indian old lady, I shut the spot lights and lowered the car speed.Strangely too that the old grandma just sat in the middle of the road wearing traditional sari and with her head stooped. Just as when I was passing beside the grandma slowly and carefully, the grandma suddenly raised her right hand seemed to flag down my car.Though feeling strange, I wound down the side window and asked: "Are you OK grandma?"The grandma raised her head and said: "Please, can you bring me to my children in Kuala Lumpur?"Due to personal safety considerations and that I was going towards the other side of the metropolitan city, I had no intention to come out from the car.So, I shook my head and replied: "Sorry, grandma. I am not going to your place." So said, I wound up the window and started to speed off.Just as when I was entering the second corner, there she was; the old Indian grandma again sat in the middle of the road. But this time, the grandma raised her right hand to flag my car again.I was totally horrified as it was barely a few seconds past that the old lady could appear in front of my car!No choice but to proceed on. The old grandma continued to flag my car with pleading expression but I tried to ignore her. Just as I approached the grandma, I switched on the car spot light first to warn the old lady to give way and the second was to have a closer look at the surrounding.I almost fainted as when my car spot light shone on the old lady, she suddenly vanished into the thin air! Goose bumps suddenly developed all over my body as I realized that the grandma was not human.No second words, I immediately stepped on my gas paddle and sped back home. Luckily nothing happened on my rest of the journey.No that I have left the company and returned to Penang, I could still develop cold sweat thinking of the old Indian grandma.

An assortment of Vietnamese hell bank notes. The one on the top left corner is the hell note in USD, while the one on the bottom right corner is the reverse side.

One year ago, a Vietnamese couple was caught bringing a total of $4,650,000 of Vietnamese USD hell bank notes at Detroit airport. Apparently bringing in hell notes are illegal in the US!Like the Chinese, some Vietnamese too offer hell bank notes to the dead but unique to this region, the hell note is in USD! Believe it or not.This reminds me of a recently popular ghost story circulated in Northern Vietnam:Story was told that one day an old couple received a fridge sent from a supermarket near the sea.The old couple refused to accept the fridge as they said that they had never placed the order. But when the deliveryman showed the old couple the delivery and sales order, the old folks burst into tears for clearly printed on the document was the name of their long deceased daughter!After the old couple told that deliveryman that it was their long deceased daughter who had purchased the fridge, the disbelieve man returned to the supermarket and conveyed the bizarre news to his supervisor.Of course, no one would believe that how can someone return from the grave and buy something from our human world.But the careful supervisor thought that he aught to refer the matter to the supermarket sales department for a further investigation.Although the sounds absurd, the sales department still ran a thorough check on that day's purchase and to the manager's surprised, hidden within that day's money was a few pieces of USD hell bank notes worth of $300. And coincidentally that was the price of the refrigerator sold!

After the supermarket management learnt about the restless ghostly daughter's deed, the manager decided to donate the fridge to the old folks as a good gesture. And because of this, people believe that this restless daughter helped the supermarket to bloom. You will not miss this supermarket if you go to Northern Vietnam.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

It was said that a basketball court in University of Hong Kong (UHK) is pretty haunted. This basketball court is special because it is not of standard size and it has no hoop as well. Some students claimed to have seen kids playing in the dark on the basketball court. Of course it is illogical to see kids playing in night in a university. So I think you have guessed what the 'kids' really were...There is an urban legend concerning this mysterious basketball court that goes something like this:When the May Hall was still student's hostel, some students routinely practised basketball on that court in the evening.There was one female student never failed to present to watch the basketball practice sessions. Gradually the girl attracted the attention of a male basketball player.Due to curiosity, the boy followed the girl one night after the basketball training session to a room in the second floor. The boy asked the hostel caretaker of whom was the tenant of that particular room, but the answer was that the room was vacated for a very long time.This has certainly arouse the boy's curiosity further and he tried to do some detective work himself in a local public library. Finally he found a news clip mentioning that someone had committed suicide in the room.Now being more curious, the boy again came across the mysterious girl watching his basketball session again. This time, he followed the girl to the room in the second floor again.This time, the boy waited until the girl went into the room and he quietly and swiftly came to the door and peeped through the key hole...There he saw something red-black-red. The boy couldn't make sense of what he has just saw, so he tried another peep...It was still the red-black-red thing the boy saw. Then the door suddenly opened and there he saw the mysterious girl face to face at close range. Only at this time that he realized the 'red-black-red' thing was the girl's bloody eye! Apparently, when the boy peeped through the key hole, the girl too peeped into the key hole on the other side.When the boy realized the girl in front of him was nothing near human, in extreme shock he fainted on to the floor. He was found by a cleaning lady the next morning lying face down in front of the room.The boy became sick and had to return to his house for recuperating. After his returning to the university, he told his spooky encounter to his friends, he vowed not to come near the basketball court ever until the day he left the university.

It was in the beginning of March, 1998 when a family visited Da Keng scenic area in Taichung. One of the family members took some video recording. Coincidentally and unfortunately, a family member passed away.During the funeral service, someone remembered the video shooting and he played the video and found an eerie figure followed behind those folks. It was a mysterious girl like figure wearing red shirt. The 'thing' showed a grimed greenish face. Interestingly, the girl's eyes could not be seen clearly as they are overcast by shadow.Surprisingly, no one could remember that they have seen this child. Coincidentally too, in the video clip, fang like substances were seen inside the deceased's mouth. The most disturbing of all is that red shirt child however.The video clip was passed to a local TV station and it was being broadcast in a supernatural program...Not long after that, someone contacted the paranormal program host and claimed to have seen the red shirt kid. Since his encounter, his business took a downhill turn and he even met with several accidents that almost took his life.At the moment of despair, this person watched the paranormal program and he ventured to contact the program host for help.The program host was happy to assist. So, the host inquired some local folks around Da Keng if anyone has seen the red shirt girl but the answer was negative.Those who have seen the bizarre video clip felt though the figure looked like a kid, its face somehow resembles a very pale old man. After some twist and turns, the program host employed a very powerful Taoist master in the hope to solve this mystery. So, together with the related party and the Taoist master, they went to the place of incident.When the Taoist master came to the pace which is a piece of bamboo forest, strangely as it might be; the originally clear sky suddenly became gloomy. Just as when the Taoist master entered the bamboo forest, strong wind started to blow as if it was the warning from the red shirt girl.At that juncture, the Taoist master made some hand gesture and the wind halted. After some ritual, the Taoist master claimed that the red shirt girl was being captured inside an egg. When the master broke the egg shell in a river, the egg white was black in color...Many folks believed that the red shirt girl was in fact some kind of mountain spirit. It was say that a movie directed made a movie titled 'Tag Along'and won some prize.Some scientific minded people looked at the video clip and deducted that the kid was other innocent folk followed at the back of the family. Due to optical illusion and the angle of the shooting, an old man may look like a kid when viewed from a higher elevation.So, there is no mystery after all but coincidence. Maybe the saying is true: "沿海居民多迷信" (Those live near the sea tend to be superstitious). People in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore tend to believe in spooks more than others.

Hong Kong academic institutions have their own ghost stories too. Very few people would mention, or perhaps I should say that Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts which is situated beside Wan Chai sea also has some classical ghost story too.The Academy of Performing Arts has three main components, i.e. class room, backstage workroom for set production and costumes etc, and theater. Both of the set production room and theater are dark throughout the year because of technical requirements.The production room and theater are so cold that students even need to wear extra clothing during Summer time. So, it is natural that in such dark and cold enclosed spaces, one would be able to see some kind of ghosts.The most classical of all ghost stories is the 'white shadow sister' (白影姐姐). Almost all students of this school must have heard this ghost story.From the descriptions of eye witnesses, this 'white shadow sister' has long black hair, she wears long white gown but all other features were blurred.It is said that this sister white would move in and out very quickly. Students who stayed until very late at night for show performances would be able to see a flash of white shadow moved at a lightning speed accompanied with a chilling breeze moving along corridor at the backstage.Some people claimed to have seen this sister white floating in the air while playing violin on the stage in the main hall.Fairly recently, my friend's daughter, Alice who was studying stage painting were working on a project on the main stage one night with her classmates. At one point she felt that someone was staring at her.Feeling pretty uneasy, Alice started to move her vision around and all were pretty normal. Just as when Alice was dismissing that her odd feeling was nothing but her own vivid imagination, she felt a drop of cold water fell onto her head.Instinctively, Alice raised her head and saw the ghostly sister white was staring at her on the stage walkway directly above her. The sister white were staring at Alice and her gang with some sort of malign smile.Before Alice could inform her classmates of what she has seen, a stage lighting suddenly fell onto the stage barely hitting Alice.Later, Alice recalled that perhaps the sister white was meant to warn her and her friends on the approaching danger. No one knows the origin of this sister white however.If you happened to drop by the Academy of Performing Arts, then you may inquire about this mysterious sister white. Perhaps you will find out more info.

Once upon a time in China, Shaolin monks practised real Kung Fu. They can kill a buffalo with one single punch, and jump onto a galloping horse with a leap. Those were the days.Today, MMA, UFC and K1 matches swept across the 21st century. We can perhaps identify unique technique from various martial art schools from those participants except traces of Kung Fu. This is perhaps because very few Chinese Kung Fu exponents willing to participate in real combats.My question is that since Kung Fu has next to none real combat results, why is it that people still believe that Kung Fu is still relevant today?Maybe we need to look further back into the development of contemporary Kung Fu. I have identified four important periods that had changed Kung Fu forever:The first period happened during the Ching Dynasty when those Manchu nobles suddenly thought that they too wished to learn Kung Fu and employed many Kung Fu masters. As I have mentioned that the original Kung Fu means hard work. Those Manchu nobles couldn't take the harsh Kung Fu training so the Kung Fu sifus had to 'simplify' those Kung Fu training to suit those living in comfort Manchurian. Naturally, those Manchurian started to teach others those simplified Kung Fu too. So, slowly and over time, the market is filled with those simplified Kung Fu.The second was the period when the army of 8-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing.Before the invation, most of the Kung Fu experts worked as bodyguards for the rich and famous. Their Kung Fu training were really hardcore. For example: These experts would need to run 12 miles a day, took horse stance (马步) for 3 hours, punching sand bag 1000 times, lifting heavy weights etc. All in all, Kung Fu training was just similar to the current physical exercises.People were not practising patterns (套路) but individual stances just like those basic movements in Western boxing. Once those basic stances were mastered, then the Kung Fu artists would engage in 1-1 combat. Since there weren't any flowery movements and the Kung Fu exponents must show physical strengths, their killing power was then certainly undoubted.An incident during the 8-Nation Alliance occupancy changed the perception of Kung Fu in old China:A Bagua-palm (八卦掌) exponent Chen Yanhua (陈延华) were shot and killed by Western firearm and this incident has considerable effefct on the belief of Kung Fu as a means of effective self-defence technique. The firearm was victorious after all...Consequently those boxers gradually became jobless and they had to resort to teach Kung Fu to general public to earn a living. This behavorial change has resulted in more and more Kung Fu stances and patterns being developed.Kung Fu has at this point being converted from a self-defence technique to just 'exercise for a strong nation' (强国建民).Since a Kung Fu master needs to earn a living by teaching Kung Fu and that no one will be willing to spend money on a Kung Fu loser; Kung Fu sifu started to shy away from real Kung Fu matches...The third stage happened during the cultural revolution:Many Kung Fu experts were killed or tortured. Many precious Kung Fu knowledge were lost.Finally, with the advent of Kung Fu shows in the 60's triggered Kung Fu fevers all over the world; the phrase 'Kung Fu' is almost equivalent to money. Whatever related to Kung Fu sells. Shaolin Temple turned into a business venture that attracted many Western folks to pilgrimage and learn Kung Fu.Shaolin Kung Fu schools were set up across the world and to say the least, Kung Fu is indeed a gold laying hen.When money is involved, those Kung Fu masters again become more careful in participating in actual combat. And as a resort to save face, they have chosen to 'oral-fight' over the mass media.We will not fail to come across those boastful talks on how powerful a master is that he/she can make 10 people fly by swinging his/her hands slightly... Those boastful words could never be verified in real situation of course.Well, hat was a fairly quick introduction of what has become of our Kung Fu today. My take is still that the best Kung Fu is fast and power straight punches.It is no magic that a boxing exponent can knock down 10 people in a roll by throwing punches. Of course, flying kick works too... it is only that you can only kick once in the air.Interested in Kung Fu? Think about it again, please.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Within 50 years and among local Hong Kong folks, there are said to be top-10 classical ghost stories: High Street (高街), Admiralty quarters(金鐘兵房), Murray House(美利樓),Braid Road(一條辮路),East Town Theater(東城戲院),Nam Koo Terrace(南固臺), Wah Fu Estate(華富村), Shaw Studio(邵氏片場), Dade School(達德學校)and Lei Yue Mun Barracks(鯉魚門兵房).Some folks added the old Tai Po Police Station (大埔舊警署), old material store of Oil Street (油街舊物料庫), a flat in Tai Hing Estate, Tuen Mun (屯門大興村) etc. to the list. This so-called list varies according to people to people of course.Stories about post-war Hong Kong haunted houses are mostly related to the Japanese Imperial Army massacre during WWII. Those premises that were the Imperial Army Barracks, detention centers or execution places would believe to be haunted to some degree. For example: the Peninsula Hotel basement (半島酒店地庫),the west wing of Murray House (美利樓西), the old navy headquarter (舊海軍總部), Tamar Building (添馬大樓), Transport Department at No. 2 Murray Road etc. are believed to be old execution place of Imperial Army. So those restless souls of untimely dead would still linger in that area so said.Another frequent haunted place would be the cinema. The most famous one would be the pre-war Kau U Fong Cinema (九如坊戲院). Urban legend has it that a kid saw many kid spirits in red with ferocious faces and started to cry while asking his father to bring him out.Consequently, the cinema caught fire and the father and son were the only survivors. This ghost story is quite similar to the 1918 Happy Valley fire incident. Another haunted cinema would be the East Twon Theater (東城戲院)located in Wan Cai in the 50's. Even though after 50 years, the ghost stories remain to be relevant to date.Some murder or suicide scene is also popular haunted place. The deepest impression one is a unit in a flat in Lai King (荔景) where two sisters were murdered about 30 years ago. After the murder, the unit became haunted and it has changed hands many times but no one could stay too long in the unit until the management sealed off the unit permanently.Others places of murder scenes such as the Tai Hing Estate (大興村),Sau Mau Ping Estate (秀茂坪村), Lek Yuen Estate(瀝源村), Plover Clove Garden(寶湖花園) etc. also has some kind of similar ghost stories too.The old hostels of Shaw Studio were once a black spot for ghost haunting. During February and March of 1978, news of ghost haunting started to spread. It was said that the ghost of the late movie star,Lee Ting (李婷)who committed suicide by hanging herself in the 102 basement of the 3rd basement, and the ghost of director Kim Chun (秦劍) who died in 1968 by hanging himself started to haunt the Shaw Studio.Hong Kong folks always think that police represents the righteous energy and the police uniform can ward off evil. Contrary to this belief, in recent years, the most horrific ghost stories come from this law enforcement agency. For instance, the ammunition store of Building J of the police tactical college of Wong Chuk Hang, the previous Royal Police Cadet School in Fan Garden (芬園) and Dodwell's Ridge (天祥營), and also the so-called the Number 8 Police Station aka the headquarter of Regional Crime Unit (重案組) are thought to be seriously haunted.A more recent ghost story happened in Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station. Story has it that a sergeant (警長 ) was killed in a freak accident near Lion Rock Tunnel exit during midnight.The next day, another sergeant claimed to have seen the deceased in the changing room. The news of the changing room haunted by the restless sergeant started to spread.In order to appease the dead soul and most importantly, the superior decided to employ some Taoists to perform a deliverance ceremony inside the police station. It is due to this ceremony that the news of the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station made known to the public.Perhaps Hong Kong has many fantastic ghost stories to tell that Charles F. Emmons has wrote a book titled 'Chinese Ghosts and ESP" some time ago. May be you care to look in your local library. I assure you that you would not be disappointed.